FINANCE FROM ABROAD

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4815, 26 July 1939, Page 7

FINANCE FROM ABROAD

JEWISH REFUGEES.

EAGER TO GO ON LAND. THE AUSTRALIAN PROSPECT. Jewish refugees are eager to go on the land instead of remaining in the cities, according to officials of the Jewish' Welfare Society in Sydney. The society has established a training farm for refugees about 20 miles from Sydney. "There are now about 40 refugees at the training farm, and we have a large waiting list," said Mr. Silverman, secretary of the society. "These people, many of them former bankers, lawyers, and business men, realise that there is no opening for them in the cities in Australia, and they are anxious to become farmers. A number of refugee families who have passed through the training farm are already farming in a small way, and not one failure has been reported. All are progressing. Make no mistake about it. The great majority of Jews from Europe have have no desire to remain in the city. They are eagerly awaiting a chance to go to the country."

Mr. Paul A> Cohen, a founder of the Jewish Welfare oSciety, and its first honorary secretary, announced on his return from a world tour that large sums of money would come to Australia from influential Jewish communities in Great Britain and the United States, to be used for the settlement of refugees on small farms throughout Australia.

Aim. Small Scattered Farms.

'l' discussed the refugee problem in Australia with influential Jewish people in Britain and the United States, and they were deeply impressed with what the Government and the people of this country are doing," Mr. Cohen said. "I was able to arrange for considerable sums for land settlement. The money will come to Australia in the form of an investment. Land will be purchased for farms, and the refugees will pay for those farms as they progress. ' Eventually the land will be transferred to them. There is no proposal to establish colonies of refugees. The object of the scheme k to establish hundreds of small farms in all parts of Australia, where refugees can earn a living in a small way."

Mr. Cohen said that in his discussion abroad he found a general recognition of the fact that, in a primaryproducing country like Australia, a large percentage of refugees from Europe must go on the land if they were to be absorbed successfully in a young country. "From what I saw in Palestine," he said, "I am certain that the refugee who goes on the land will be a success. There, men of all ages, who had become accustomed to sedentary occupations—lawyers, accountants, and teachers —have made good farmers. Age there seems to be no bar to adaptability."